I went with Li Yang to the door to greet our visitor. When the door opened, a chubby, slightly dazed-looking guy stood outside. He wore a dark blue work uniform with baggy jeans and carried a small toolbox. Ordinary in appearance, he had a kind of honest charm.
"What's this about? Calling me out in the middle of the night," he said quickly, not shy at all. He glanced at me as if we were old friends, nodding in greeting.
"Come in, we'll talk," Li Yang said.
The three of us entered the room. Li Yang made introductions. "This is Old Liu. Old Liu, you can call him Copper Lock. It's his online alias. He's also part of the Light League."
I smiled and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Copper Lock."
Copper Lock grinned, showing small white teeth. "Old Liu, no need for formalities when we meet. That's the Light League's rule—no real names, no prying into backgrounds."
I had a hunch. "Your name's Copper Lock, so you're good at picking locks?"
"Pretty good, maybe third best in the world. But I only open locks that should be opened. You've got to give me a good reason, or I won't do it."
"It's a long story," Li Yang said with a smile.
"I've loved stories since I was a kid—the longer and more twisted, the better."
I glanced at my watch, growing anxious. "It's almost eleven. By the time we finish the story, it'll be midnight. How are we supposed to do anything then? Why not wait until tomorrow?"
"No way, we can't wait," Li Yang said. "Lin Xia's apartment is still in the state it was when she died, which is rare. I saw Sister Liu already looking for new tenants. What if she decides to clean the place out tomorrow? All the clues will be gone. We're racing against time."
Copper Lock casually grabbed a cigarette from the table, sat on the sofa, and crossed his legs. "I don't care. You guys take your time. I'll work when the story's done."
With no other choice, I recounted the whole story to Copper Lock from start to finish. Li Yang, ever perceptive, went to the kitchen to boil water and make tea.
Copper Lock was an excellent listener, fully absorbed in my tale, his face shifting with my words. His enthusiasm fueled my storytelling, and I spun the story vividly.
Even though I focused on the key points, it still took over half an hour, and the teapot was nearly empty.
Copper Lock pointed at Li Yang. "Old Li, you're not cool, man. Something this fun, and you didn't tell the Light League? Hogging it all for yourself? I'm disappointed."
Li Yang gave a wry smile. "Fun? People have died here! And I feel this thing runs deep—murky and unpredictable. The fewer people who know, the better."
Copper Lock set down his teacup and walked to the table, reaching for the jade tablet. "Is this what came out of the voodoo doll?"
"Don't touch it!" Li Yang's shout startled him.
"Can't I even look?"
"I'd advise you not to touch it," Li Yang said, picking up the black jade with chopsticks. "Do you know what this is?"
"Jade, obviously."
"Obviously, but there are many types of jade. This is corpse jade. Ever heard of it? This kind of jade is naturally cold, like ice to the touch. In ancient times, it was used to preserve corpses."
He told us to feel the spot where the jade had been. I touched the table, and that small area was noticeably colder than the rest, like it had been holding ice.
"While corpse jade preserves the body, the body also nourishes the jade. They complement each other—the corpse doesn't decay, and the jade grows more lustrous. It's seriously creepy."
Copper Lock withdrew his hand sheepishly. "You're making it sound terrifying. What's the liquid inside the jade?"
"My guess? Probably corpse oil," Li Yang said casually.
"Damn, you're just trying to scare me."
Li Yang laughed. "I'm not sure if it is or not. If you've got connections, take this jade to a lab and test it for corpse oil."
"Forget it, maybe later," Copper Lock said. "Let's go to Lin Xia's place. You guys have got my curiosity through the roof."
The three of us grabbed the toolbox and left the apartment, heading down the hallway to Lin Xia's door. The building was eerily quiet, not a soul in sight.
Copper Lock knelt in front of the door, took out his tools, and probed the lock, tinkering with something.
I stood nearby, rubbing my hands together, shivering either from nerves or the nighttime chill, my teeth chattering.
"This doesn't count as breaking and entering, right?" I said, my voice trembling.
"At the very least, it's trespassing. If we get caught, we're headed to the slammer," Li Yang said with a mischievous grin.
It was deep into the night, the moonlight pale and cold, a faint chill lingering in the air. I stomped my feet to stay warm. With a soft *click*, the lock opened.
Copper Lock stood, packed away his tools, and gestured for us to enter.
I pushed the door open and stepped into the small kitchen. It was pitch black, and for a fleeting moment, I felt an indescribable, uncanny sensation. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it seemed like something was lurking in the dark depths of the room.
I was about to move forward when I realized there was no sound behind me—as if Li Yang and Copper Lock had vanished. I turned back to see both of them still outside, not having stepped in, staring at me like I was an alien while calmly putting on rubber gloves.
I rushed back out, hissing, "What the hell are you doing?"
"We just said this is trespassing. If anything goes missing and Sister Liu reports it, we can't leave fingerprints," Copper Lock said with a smirk.
"Damn it, give me some gloves too."
Copper Lock pulled a pair from his toolbox and handed them to me. I put them on and wiped the door handle with my shirt to erase any fingerprints.
The three of us entered Lin Xia's apartment, and I closed the door behind us.
Past the kitchen was the living room, where a stale, uninhabited smell hit us. The room's soundproofing was good—once the door shut, outside noises vanished.
Out of caution, we didn't turn on the lights, using flashlights to scan the room. The living room had an old-fashioned TV cabinet against the wall, holding a 30-inch LCD TV covered in dust. Through the dark screen, we could faintly see our three figures moving. In the center of the room was a dining table covered with a floral tablecloth, surprisingly clean. What was shocking, though, was a pink bowl on the table, with a pair of chopsticks next to it.
The three of us exchanged looks, as if someone had just eaten here.
Copper Lock touched the edge of the bowl. "It's cold."
The strangeness was indescribable. He seemed relieved, probably afraid the bowl would be warm. I shone my flashlight on it—inside was half a bowl of leftover instant noodles, still faintly fragrant.
"Stop looking, let's move on," Li Yang whispered.
We tiptoed further in. The apartment was small, just a one-bedroom layout. Beyond the living room was the bedroom, its door closed. Li Yang gently pushed it, and with a creaky *squeak*, it swung open, the sound grating enough to make your teeth ache.
Copper Lock muttered, "Can you be more careful?"
"Quit whining," Li Yang said.
Lifting the curtain, our three flashlight beams swept inside. The small room was littered with debris—mostly discarded white plastic bags, mineral water and cola bottles, and wads of crumpled tissue paper.
Copper Lock covered his nose. "Goddamn, what's that smell?"
The room was filled with a strange, fishy odor, like an overwhelming amount of laundry detergent. The three of us were nearly blinded by the stench, coughing as we stepped back into the living room, letting the curtain fall.
"Damn it," Copper Lock cursed. "If I didn't know this was a girl's room, I'd think some loser lived here. Smells like a jerk-off den."
Say what you will, his toolbox was well-equipped—he even had masks. We each put one on and re-entered the bedroom. Under the flashlight beams, everything became clearer.
The setup was simple: a fabric wardrobe, a shoe rack, a computer desk, and a double bed. Scattered on the desk were some books. Copper Lock picked them up—popular romance novels like *I Fell for the CEO* and *Petite Girl in the Ming Dynasty*, clearly written for a female audience.
He flipped through them, found them uninteresting, and put them back. There was also a domestic laptop on the desk. Li Yang powered it on, and in the dark room, the screen glowed green. Soon, a password prompt appeared.
"Damn," Li Yang muttered, shutting it down.
"Look at the bed," Copper Lock said.
The bed's covers were disheveled, bright red with embroidered mandarin ducks. I'd only seen this style in my childhood—brides used such red bedding in their wedding chambers for good luck and festivity.
This kind of bedding hadn't been common for years, and seeing it in this pitch-black, eerie bedroom felt especially sinister. It reminded me of the female corpse Li Yang's father had dug up while working on the stone mountain.
But that wasn't the scariest part. The scariest part was that the bedding was bulging, as if two people were lying side by side beneath it.
We exchanged glances. My teeth chattered in fear, and judging by their faces, Copper Lock and Li Yang weren't faring much better—Copper Lock's face was pale.
Li Yang, proving his courage in the clutch, grabbed a desk lamp, lifted a corner of the bedding, and used the lamp to drag the covers back. As he did, a swarm of dark yellow insects, disturbed from their slumber, scurried out, crawling chaotically across the bed in all directions.
"Holy shit!" Copper Lock clung to Li Yang's arm like a frightened girl, hiding behind him. "Old Li, are those fucking cockroaches?"
Li Yang stood frozen, mouth agape. "How would I know?"
"Cover it back up!" I shouted.
He snapped out of it and threw the bedding back over. After that ordeal, our courage was drained, our foreheads slick with cold sweat. I felt exhausted, like I'd just collapsed after a climax, wanting nothing more than to lie down somewhere clean.
"Look at this," Copper Lock said, shining his flashlight in a direction.
We followed the beam to the wall above the bed, where a painting hung. It was a horizontal scroll of an ancient landscape—lakes, mountains, and misty waters, grand and atmospheric.
This was odd. Such a painting would fit in a CEO's or professor's office or living room, but in a young woman's bedroom? It was completely out of place.
"There's something off about this painting," Li Yang said, squinting thoughtfully.
"No kidding, even a moron could see that," Copper Lock said, peeking over his shoulder.
"Old Liu, here's a task for you," Li Yang said. "Go take that painting down."